CHICKS DIG TIME LORDS

Edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Tara O'Shea

978-1-93523-404-3

192pp/$14.95/March 2010

My first introduction to Doctor Who came in the early 1980s when
the local PBS station began running episodes starring Tom Baker. A
friend of my, a huge Doctor Who fan, tried to get me to watch the
show, and I did watch numerous episodes, but found them campy and
slight. Eventually, I was introduced to other Doctors...Peter Davison,
Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, and William Hartnell. Liked some of
them (Troughton, Hartnell), didn't like others (Pertwee). Overall, I
had a hard time getting past the cheesy special effects (I never could buy
the idea that they were a strength of the series) or the need for ending
each story with several cliff-hangers. With the revival of the series,
I've been going back and re-watching many of the older episodes as
well. I've come to the conclusion that, even with the higher
production values, Doctor Who has almost always been a better concept
than reality.

Lynne M. Thomas and Tara O'Shea have contacted numerous fans of the
television series, both the original that ran from 1963 through 1989, and
the new series which has run since 2005, and asked them to discuss their own
perceptions of the series and its effect on their lives. Not only do the
editors include the works of fans, but also of actresses (Sophie Aldred, who
played Ace from 1987 through the end of the series, and India Fisher, who
played Charley Pollard in Doctor Who audio adventures), authors
(Jackie Jenkins, Jody Lynn Nye, Seanan McGuire, Kathryn Sullivan, etc.) and
even Carole Barrowman, whose brother, John was in the cast before
spinning off to star in Torchwood.

The articles range from personal reminiscences, such as Jennifer Adams
Kelley's "Rutle-ing the Doctor: My Long Life in Doctor Who
Fandom," which discusses her role in film fannish continuations of the
series to more academic papers looking at Doctor Who from a
sociological perspective, as Helen Kang does in "Adventures in Ocean-Crossing, Margin-Skating and
Feminist-Engagement with Doctor Who." However, even the most
theoretical essays all have an anchor to the very real experience the
authors' have as fans of the television show. Kang discusses Doctor
Who in terms of her own personal relationship with the show. The various
essays also offer intriguing counterpoints to each other, such as the
difference between Kang and Bradford's view of Martha Jones.

With so many different writers, the experience is very different for all
of them. Naturally, the focus is on the new series of Doctor Who,
starring first Christopher Eccleston and then David Tennant, but several of
the authors also have ties to the original series. Practically all of
the actors to play the Doctor are discussed, including one-timer Paul McGann
(although, inexplicably, William Hartnell is not named anywhere in the
book). The classic companions don't fare quite as well, with many of them
not mentioned at all, although given the number of lost episodes, it isn't
entirely surprising that some aren't discussed. Other companions, such as
Nyssa of Traken or Ace, have entire essays devoted to them.

While Chicks Dig Time Lords can be seen as an affirmation of the
television show or that it is okay for women to be fans of the series, on a
larger scale it serves as an affirmation of Doctor Who fandom as a
whole, and, by extension, science fiction fandom. Rather than being about
the geeky loner who has discovered a hidden passion, they essays show fandom
as being about finding like spirits. The essays are generally short
and show how different experiences can be while they are still tied
together.

Elizabeth Bear

We'll Make Great Pets

Carole E. Barrowman

Time is Relative

Jackie Jenkins

Being Jackie Jenkins: Memoirs from a Parallel Universe

Deborah Stanish

My Fandom Regenerates

Helen Kang

Adventures in Ocean-Crossing, Margin-Skating and
Feminist-Engagement with Doctor Who

Lloyd Rose

What's a Girl to Do?

India Fisher

An Interview with India Fisher

Johanna Mead

Costuming: More Productive Than Drugs, But Just as Expensive

Francesca Coppa

Girl Genius: Nyssa of Traken

Sophie Aldred

An Interview with Sophie Aldred

Jennifer Adams Kelley

Rutle-ing the Doctor: My Long Life in Doctor Who
Fandom

Lynne M. Thomas

Marrying Into the TARDIS Tribe

Tammy Garrison & Katy Shuttleworth

Torchwood Babiez in "Behind the Scenes"

Lisa Bowerman

The Digging Chick

Tara O'Shea

The Tea Lady

Jody Lynn Nye

Hopelessly Devoted to Who

Amy Fritsch

Two Generations of Fangirls in America

Seanan McGuire

Mathematical Excellence: A Documentary

Kathryn Sullivan

The Fanzine Factor

Laura Doddington

An Interview with Laura Doddington

Liz Myles

Renaissance of the Fandom

Kate Orman

If I Can't Squee, I don't Want to be Part of Your
Revolution: Crone-ology of an Ageing Fangirl